Barcodes = Product Information?

**JanieD** · 02-23-2010, 02:08 PM

Can barcodes help us make smarter choices when shopping?

I found this information after a friend received an email discussing how to use barcodes to purchase made in USA & Canada products. I'm not sure how reliable the link is, but thought I would share. It seems the bar codes indicate where the code was issued, NOT WHERE AN ITEM IS MADE. Still this information may be helpful. OR it could be a wild goose chase.

http://www.adams1.com/upccode.html

(Scroll down the page for the country codes.)

What do you think about check barcodes if you're concerned with where an item is made?

**Libby** · 02-23-2010, 02:50 PM

It says right on the page that the country code listed is where the code was issued/registered not where the product was made.

Lots of people have requested the codes. Here is a partial list. Remember, it indicates the country that issued the code, NOT THE COUNTRY OF ORIGIN OF THE PRODUCT.

Products can not be falsely labeled in terms of where it was made. I have worked in manufacturing and our products showed the US UPC on them however some were made in Canada. We made products for Europe and the Middle East and they also had the US UPC code on them.

I think Walmart would be a great example. Their codes are registered to the US however their products are made outside of North America. For example - a tee shirt could say 'Made in Bangladesh' however bears the UPC registered to Walmart in the US.

I think barcodes are more used to track the 'owner' of the product - ie who manufactures it etc and is also useful for scanning in terms of inventory/warehouse mgmt and for tracking sales at the store level - ie buy 3 get 1 free or at a fixed lower price etc.

**JanieD** · 02-23-2010, 05:09 PM

I do look on the product to find where it is made. However, this information isn't always there. Perhaps, it isn't required on all products? There may be a company or manufacturers address, but this is not where the item is made.

I actually looked at an Equcate (sp?) Walmart's brand item & the bar code was not a US code according to the country list. The only address on the item was the Walmart headquarters there in the US. This is one of the reasons I posted to see if someone had insight into this "mis information" or lack of info on products.

I'm not 100% sure the link with the bar code information is correct, but I did see the country code is where the code is issued & not where it was made. I may have ask my question incorrectly. Perhaps, instead of asking what others thought about using the bar code as a referrence to where an item is made, I should have asked if anyone has suggestions when an item is missing MADE IN ______ information. The bar code thing seemed sort of interesting & I thought others may already have insight into it.